The following is a selection of poems suitable for a funeral. BACK
In many cases
the author is unknown. If you know the author, please email me at
info@calmandcreative.com.au
Autumn Rain
Mary Frye, 1932
Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am that swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft star that shines at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die.
After Glow
Author unknown
I'd like the memory of me
to be a happy one.
I'd like to leave an afterglow
of smiles when life is done.
I'd like to leave an echo
whispering softly down the ways,
Of happy times and laughing times
and bright and sunny days.
I'd like the tears of those who grieve,
to dry before the sun
of happy memories
that I leave when life is done.
I'm Free
Author unknown
Don't grieve for me, for now I'm free
I'm following the path God has laid you see.
I took His hand when I heard him call
I turned my back and left it all.
I could not stay another day
To laugh, to love, to work, to play.
Tasks left undone must stay that way
I found that peace at the close of day.
If my parting has left a void
Then fill it with remembered joy.
A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss
Oh yes, these things I too will miss.
Be not burdened with times of sorrow
I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow.
My life's been full, I savoured much
Good friends, good times, a loved one's touch.
Perhaps my time seemed all too brief
Don't lengthen it now with undue grief.
Lift up your hearts, and peace to thee
God wanted me now; He set me free.
Away
James Whitcomb Riley
I cannot say and I will not say
That she is dead – she is just away.
With a cheery smile and a wave of a hand
She has wandered into an unknown land,
And left us dreaming how very fair
It needs must be since she lingers there.
Author unknown
Think of me as one at rest,
For me you should not weep,
I have no pain, no troubled thoughts,
For I am just asleep.
The living thinking me that was,
Is now forever still.
And life goes on without me
As time forever will.
If your heart is heavy now
Because I've gone away,
Dwell not long upon it, friend,
For none of us can stay.
Those of you who liked me
I sincerely thank you all,
And those of you who loved me
I thank you most of all.
The answer to life's riddle
In life I never knew,
I go with hope that now I will,
And even so will you.
Oh, follish, foolish me that was,
I who was so small,
To have wondered, even worried,
At the mystery of it all.
And in my fleeting lifespan
As time went rushing by,
I found some time to hesitate,
To laugh, to love, to cry.
Matters it now if time began,
If time will ever cease?
I was here, I used it all,
And now I am at peace.
The Day You Left
With tears we saw you suffer,
As we watched you fade away,
Our hearts were almost broken,
As you fought so hard to stay.
We knew you had to leave us,
But you never went alone,
For part fo us went with you
The day you left your home.
Her Old Bones Creaked
Jamie Samms
Her old bones creaked
And her pace was slow,
But her smile was blindingly bright.
Her mind was sharp
And her voice was kind,
Her manner was a true delight.
The world had changed
In the winters she'd known
But she bore their weight with pride.
She shared her wisdom
And passed the goodness on,
Using her love of life as her guide.
She did not bow to time,
Using life as her stage,
She sought each morning's joy
And she was never defeated by age.
Death is nothing at all
Canon Henry Scott Holland
Death is nothing at all. I have only slipped away into the next room.
I am I, and you are you. Whatever we were to each other, we are still.
Call me by my old familiar name,
speak to me in the easy way which you have always used.
Put no difference in your tone, wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Pray, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was,
let it be spoken without effect, without the trace of shadow on it.
Life means all that it ever meant, it is the same as it ever was;
there is absolutely unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am but waiting for you, for an interval somewhere very near,
just around the corner.
All is well.
Though I am Dead
Anonymous
Though I am dead grieve not for me with tears
think not of death with sorrowing and tears;
I am
so near that every tear you shed
touches and tortures me though you think me dead.
But when you laugh and sing in glad delight,
my soul is lifted upward to the light.
Laugh and be glad for all that life is giving
and I, though dead, will share your joy in living.
Memories and Peace
Gloria Matthew
Why smile in such sadness?
It's because of the memories
Of laughter shared in the past.
The humour of life, the fun and the joy,
The reminiscences certain to last.
Why relief in such sadness?
It's because there is peace
With no more chance of pain
No one can hurt, nor take away
There will never be fear again.
The Tide Recedes
M D Hughes
The tide recedes, but leaves behind
Bright seashells on the sand.
The sun goes down but gentle warmth
Still lingers on the land.
The music stops and yet it lingers on
In sweet refrain.
For every joy that passes
Something beautiful remains
Those Who Love
It's always those who love the most
Who most miss the one they love,
When comes the parting of the ways,
And clouds loom dark above;
But tears will pass, your skies will clear
Then will you smile again,
And comfort find in memories,
Which now bring bitter pain.
From Break, Break, Break
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Break, break, break,
On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!
And I would that my tongue could utter
The thoughts that arise in me
And the stately ships go on
To their haven under the hill;
But O for the touch of a vanish'd hand,
and the sound of a voice that is still.
It is right to weep
Author Unknown
It is right to weep and mourn
but not for thyself -
for they have gone to a better place.
The tears release the tension:
take courage - remember happy days
you shared - and though you are sad
carry on as they would have you,
living, loving, laughing, caring,
God is with you though you may not know it.
He will
help you through your lonely days;
just open your heart and let Him come in.
This Heritage
They are not dead,
Who leave us this great heritage
Of remembered joy.
They still live in our hearts,
In the happiness we knew,
In the dreams we shared.
They still breathe,
In the lingering fragrance windblown,
From their favourite flowers.
They still smile in the moonlight's silver
And laugh in the sunlight's sparkling gold.
They still speak in the echoes of words
We've heard them say again and again.
They still move,
In the rhythm of waving grasses,
In the dance of the tossing branches.
They are not dead;
Their memory is warm in our hearts,
Comfort in our sorrow.
They are not apart from us,
But a part of us
For love is eternal,
And those we love shall be with us
Throughout all eternity.
W.H. Auden
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.
He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.
The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.
What is Dying?
A ship sails and I stand watching it till it fades on the horizon.
Someone at my side says, “She is gone.”
Gone where?
Gone from my sight. That is all.
She is just as large as when I saw her.
The diminished size and total loss of sight is in me, not in her.
And just at that moment, when someone at your side says, “She is gone”
There are others who are watching her coming.
And other voices take up the glad shout.
“Here she comes!”
And that is dying.
from The Tempest
William Shakespeare
Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air;
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yes, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And, like the insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on; and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.
Kahlil Gibran
Live A Life That Matters
Author Unknown
Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end.
There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours, days.
All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else.
Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.
It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.
Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear.
So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will expire.
The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
It won't matter where you came from,
or on what side of the tracks you lived.
At the end, whether you were beautiful or brilliant, male or female,
even your skin colour won't matter.
So what will matter?
How will the value of your days be measured?
What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built;
not what you got, but what you gave.
What will matter is not your success, but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched,empowered or encouraged others.
What will matter is not your competence, but your character.
What will matter is not how many people you knew,
but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone.
What will matter is not your memories,
but the memories that live in those who loved you.
Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident.
It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice.
Choose to live a life that matters.
The Tragedy of Life
Anonymous
The tragedy of life is not death, but what we let die inside us while we live.
Decide to be happy
Render others happy
Proclaim your joy.
Love passionately your miraculous life
Do not wait for a better world
Be grateful for every moment of life
Switch on and keep on the positive buttons marked:
Optimism
Serenity
Confidence
Positive thinking
Love
Pray and thank God every day
Meditate
Smile
Laugh
Whistle
Dance
Sing
Look with fascination at everything. Fill your heart and lungs with liberty.
Be yourself fully and immensely.
Feel God in your body, mind, heart and soul and be convinced of eternal life.
From The Book of the Dead
Ancient Egyptian (c. 4500 BC)
As each day ends may I have lived,
That I may truly say:
I did no harm to human kind,
From truth I did not stray;
I did no wrong with knowing mind,
From evil I did keep;
I turned no hungry person away,
I caused no one to weep.
When Death Knocks
Rabindranath Tagore
On the day when death will knock at thy door,
What wilt thou offer to him?
I will set before my guest the full vessel of my life.
I will never let him go with empty hands.
All the sweet vintage of all my autumn days and summer nights,
All the earnings and gleanings of my busy life
Will I place before him, at the close of my day.
THE
WAVE [The
source of this story is unknown]
A little wave, a he-wave, is bobbing along in the midst of the ocean having
a great time.
One day he sees that he's headed toward the shore and he realizes that he'll
soon be annihilated.
"My God, what's going to become of me?" he thinks, and he falls into
a deep depression.
Another wave, a she-wave comes bobbing along, having a fine time.
She
says to the he-wave, "Why are you looking so glum and afraid?"
"Don't you know?" he says, "You're going to crash into that shore
and then you'll be nothing!"
"Don't you know?" she says, "You're not a wave; you're part of
the ocean."
When the House Doth Sigh
Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674)
When the house doth sigh and weep
and the world is drawn in sleep
yet mine eyes the watch do keep;
sweet Spirit, comfort me!
When (God knows) I am tossed about
either with despair or doubt;
yet before the glass be out,
sweet Spirit, comfort me.
When the judgement is reveal'd
and that open'd that was seal'd
when to thee I have appeal'd
sweet Spirit, comfort me!
Remember Me
Christina Rossetti (1830 – 1895)
Remember me when I am gone away,
gone far away into the silent land;
when you can no more hold me by the hand,
nor half turn to go yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more day by day
you tell me of our future that you planned;
only remember me, you understand
it will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
and afterwards remember, do not grieve;
For if the darkness and corruption leave
a vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
better by far you should forget and smile
than that you should remember and be sad.
For Everything There Is A Season
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
For everything there is a season,
and time for every matter under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn and a time to dance;
a time to throw away stones and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and time for peace
How do we know
Marjorie Pizer
How do we know who is to go,
Who is to leave this world
Suddenly, unexpectedly or in long pain?
There is no saying who will be with us tomorrow
Or who will be bowed in sorrow.
O, while you are here,
Grasp life with both hands
And pour your passion into living,
For who knows when you or yours
May be snatched away,
Out of the toil and the moil,
Out of our present existence.
Hard to Remember
Marjorie Pizer
It is so hard to remember that you are dead.
At any moment you could walk into the house
Just as if you had been up the street shopping,
Or had just finished some writing.
Despite the fact that I walked with you
Every inch of the terrible path of your dying,
Sometimes, still, I cannot remember that you are dead.
My healing
Marjorie Pizer
I sat in my desolation
Withdrawn from all around,
Feeling my life was a ruin, a failure.
I was empty inside
With the utter collapse of my being.
I did not care anymore
For living or dying.
I was alone
In my distress and desolation.
But as I sat sadly on the ground,
The sun reached out his hand to me
And touched my face.
And so my healing began.
The Existence of Love
Marjorie Pizer
I had thought that your death
Was a waste and a destruction,
A pain of grief hardly to be endured.
I am only beginning to learn
That your life was a gift and a growing
And a loving left with me.
The desperation of death
Destroyed the existence of love,
But the fact of death
Cannot destroy what has been given.
I am learning to look at your life again
Instead of at your death and your departing.
Coming Home
Marjorie Pizer
I must get used to coming home to an empty house,
To find no welcoming presence waiting for me,
No cosy lights and kettles boiling
For companionable cups of tea.
I loved coming home, knowing that you were there,
Working or writing and awaiting my return,
Both of us equally pleased to see one another.
Now I must become accustomed to coming home to an empty house.
Poems for INFANT DEATH
Victor Frankl once said:
We cannot judge a biography by its length, by the number of pages in
it; we must judge by the richness of the contents. Sometimes
the "unfinished" are among the most beautiful symphonies.
Too
Soon
( Mary Yarnall)
This was a life
that had hardly begun
No time to find your place in the Sun
No time to do all you could have done
But we loved you enough for a lifetime
No time to enjoy the world and it's wealth
No time to take life down off the shelf
No time to sing the songs of yourself
Thou you had enough love for a lifetime
Those who live long endure sadness and tears
But you'll never suffer the sorrowing years
No betrayal, no anger, no hatred, no fears
Just love - Only love - In your lifetime.
You were a Precious Gift
Author unknown
You were a precious gift,
Our joy, our dreams.
You were a sparkle through the darkness;
Our hope for a brighter tomorrow.
You warmed our hearts, gave light to our minds,
And beauty to our spirits.
We gave you our love, wrapped you in our care,
caressed you with our smiles.
Now you are gone.
We grieve. We miss you so much.
The loving memories of you will keep you
Forever close to us -- in our hearts,
our thoughts, our souls....
Rivulets
by Michael R Berman
These are days of tears;
Mist from souls of friendship.
prayers from bottomless hearts.
Love ripples the silence of fear
Like stones dropped in tide-less ponds,
To carry hope beyond infinity
And dance among the sunshine and blossoms
of ordinary days, while waves of virile uncertainties
spawn rivulets of faith.
Reason probes for reason.
Yet there is elegance in the threads of our destiny;
Simplicities of truth entwined
With the complexities of why?
Woven from the sweetness of our moments,
they become the fabric of our being.
Transition begets renewal.
As seasons fuse,
Darkness of long winter nights
Becomes an apparition.
Life burgeons, promises mature,
inspirations thrive and fortune ascends on the vapour of despair until, despair exists no longer
Do
not judge a biography by it's length,
Nor by the number of pages in it.
Judge it by the richness of it's contents
Sometimes those unfinished are among the most poignant…
Do not judge a song by it's duration
Nor by the number of it's notes
Judge it by the way it touches and lifts the soul
Sometimes those unfinished are among the most beautiful…
And when something has enriched your life
And when it's melody lingers on in your heart
Is it unfinished?
Or is it endless?
Love is Immortal
(author unknown)
Love is pure energy and
No matter how hard you try,
You can never kill love
Because pure energy can't die
The feeling of love can fade,
And the body can cease to give,
But the energy created by love
Is immortal and continues
To live.
A Mother
Lori Boast 2007
How do we let a mother go?
How do we say “I'm ready now
to go on without you”?
How can we ever have a clue of what that really means?
And of a sudden
The moment is upon us, and there's no turning back.
And then we know what grief is,….
and guilt and love and things undone.
Try to prepare and we will fail in some way, be it subtle or looming….
But there is peace too.
Peace and acceptance and overwhelming love that we maybe weren't aware of.
Waves and waves of conflicting emotion,
And laughter too,
and memories we hadn't bothered lately to recall
come flooding back in shared company..
and it's all about you mom…
And there's gratitude.. so much of that, that we had you, such a wonderful mother…
Bright and shining, nobody's fool,
Independent, but humble too;
Smart, and kind, and fun.
Adventurous..
A part of you has passed away, but much is carried everyday within us, and will
as long as we are here.
This may be a final tribute,
A day to celebrate your life and say goodbyes;
But it's not final.
Everyday I'll celebrate in some way, just by the virtue of how you shaped my
life,
The absolute and incredible fortune that I knew you.
As a mother, a friend and a woman.
Moving On
Anonymous
you can shed tears that she is gone or you can smile because she has lived
you can close your eyes and pray that she'll come back or you can open your
eyes and she all she has left
your heart can be empty because you can't see her or you can be full of the
love you shared
you can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday or you can be happy for
tomorrow because of yesterday
you can remember her and only thats shes gone or you can cherish her memory
and let it live on
you can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back or you can do what
she'd want;smile, open you eyes, love and go on
Her Journey's Just Begun - Ellen Brennaman
Don't
think of her as gone away,
Her journey's just begun.
Life holds so many facets,
This earth is only one.
Just think of her as resting
from the sorrows and the tears,
In a place of warmth and comfort
Where there are no days and years.
Think how she must be wishing
That we could know today,
How nothing but our sadness
Can really pass away.
And think of her as living
In the hearts of those she touched,
For nothing loved is ever lost
And she was loved so much.
The Broken Chain
We little knew that morning that
God was going to call your name.
In life we loved you dearly
In death we do the same.
It broke our hearts to lose you,
you did not go alone;
for part of us went with you,
the day God called you home.
You left us peaceful memories,
your love is still our guide,
and though we cannot see you,
you are always at our side.
Our family chain is broken
and nothing seems the same,
but as God calls us one by one,
the chain will link again.
An
Indian Prayer
Creator of life and light,
We prise thee this day for the beauty of thy world,
for sunshine and flowers,
storm-cloud and starry night,
for the radiance of dawn and the last smouldering calm of the sunset.
We thank thee for physical joys,
for the ecsatcy of swift motion,for deep water to swim in,
For the goodly smell of rain on dry ground,
for hills to climb and hard work to do,
for all the skill of hand and eye,
for music that lifts our hearts in one breath to heaven,
for the grasp of a friend,
for the gracious loveliness of children,
for all these thy sacraqments of beauty and joy,
we thank thee our Lord and God.
Two short poems
by William Blake
He who binds to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy;
He who kisses the joy as it flies,
Lives in eternity's sunrise.
To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.
from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
“Does it hurt?” The childish question had fallen from Harry's lips, before he could stop it.
“Dying? Not at all” said Sirius. “Quicker and easier than falling asleep.”